Samuel Shinedima
PRESIDENT Hage Geingob on Sunday afternoon departed for Abidjan, Côte D’Ivoire to participate in the Summit of Heads of States and Governments on Desertification, Drought and Sustainable Land Management where at least 2 000 delegates from 196 countries and the European Union are expected.
The 15th session of the Conference of Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention, which aims to combat desertification, opens today.
The COP15 is regarded as a call to action to ensure land as a principal commodity, to benefit both present and future generations.
The conference will focus on the restoration of one billion hectares of degraded land between now and 2030, future-proofing land use against the impacts of climate change, and tackling escalating disaster risks such as droughts, sand and dust storms, and wildfires.
Alassane Ouattara, President of Côte d’Ivoire, and Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, as well as Abdulla Shahid, President of the United Nations General Assembly, are also attending the summit.
The two-week event ends Friday, 20 May.
